A startup founded by a pair of backpackers — selling canvas shoes featuring art from all over the world — just raised $7.5 million

BucketFeet, a startup that
sells canvas shoes
featuring designs by artists from all over the world, has raised
a $7.5 million Series A round, the company announced
Wednesday.

The venture capital firm Jumpstart Ventures and the founder and
former CEO of Crate & Barrel Gordon Segal participated in
this round of funding.

Previously, the nearly
four-year-old BucketFeet had raised $5.9
million. Previous investors include Andy
Dunn, the cofounder and CEO of
Bonobos,as well
as Brian Spaly, CEO of Trunk Club
and cofounder of Bonobos.

BucketFeet's two American cofounders met six years ago
while living in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. Raaja Nemani had quit his
finance job in 2008 to backpack around the world, and he was
tutoring children in Argentina. There he met Aaron Firestein, who
had started his own company in college by decorating canvas shoes
and selling them to his dormmates. He had gotten so successful
that by the time he moved to Argentina, he was shipping his
decorated duds around the world.

Nemani bought a pair of shoes from Firestein and wore them
for the rest of his backpacking trip. They became a talking point
every time he met someone new in his travels.

BucketFeet

"When people asked me about the shoes, I found that I wasn't
talking about the brand because that didn't really matter anymore
— I was talking about the artist, Aaron, and his inspiration for
design, why the colors were used, why the pattern was the way it
was," Nemani
tells Business Insider. "I found that by having this real
person and real story behind the shoe, it immediately created a
connection, both between me and the person, and the person and
Aaron."

Later on, Nemani was living in the Middle East. He called
up Firestein and asked if Firestein wanted to bring his shoe
business to another level — Nemani wanted to make a company that
would connect people through art. Both men later ended up moving
to Chicago to start a company called BucketFeet.

BucketFeet

"Art is one of those
platforms that everyone can understand; it's a universal
language, and it can bring people together," Nemani says.
"BucketFeet is inspired by our travels, the idea that we wanted
to meet all these people and the idea that people want to feel
connected to something. Sometimes it's hard to get that, but we
thought, 'What if we created a brand that could connect people
through real products?'"

BucketFeet has a hand both in
e-commerce and in brick-and-mortar stores. In addition to its
existing storefronts in New York City and Chicago, the
company says there will be at least six retail studios in 2015,
including three international locations in Asia.

BucketFeet

"We're incredibly excited about this round of funding,
which will allow us to continue to expand our artist network, our
global reach, and our ability to develop products that go beyond
traditional footwear," Nemani
says.

"Highlighting artists'' stories and experiences is
absolutely paramount to us — because of this, we're able to offer
something that no other brand can provide."

In the past two months, BucketFeet has more than doubled
its full-time staff. The company sells its artsy sneakers in more
than 20 countries, and international sales account for nearly
half of BucketFeet's total sales.